Novice DE - Question about tires
 

Hello,

I will be needing new rear tires very soon. Currently on Potenza S-04 Pole Positions on 17" stock wheels.

Goal of the car+tires is for DE/AutoX - with some street/canyon driving for pleasure. Car is stock and my experience level is novice. Just some AutoX and no DE yet.

I've tried to do some research on these, but most threads keep recommending RE-71R or NT-01. I don't want to **************** up good tires, so I'm looking for the best tire for my experience level and won't break the bank.

Should I just get another pair of Potenza S-04? Is there a better tire I can switch to for my purposes?

Well, your rear tires need to match your fronts. So, buy 2 new ones. Don't mix & match tires. What are the DOT codes dates on the fronts?? If they are 4 years old, think about replacing all 4. If they are 5 years old DO REPLACE all 4.

get something you know and trust. tear them up, get experience in the process, then get track or AX-specific wheels and tires. AX tires need to heat up fast and last for a minute or so. DE tires need to be able to manage heat for 20 minutes. street tires need to be happy in the wet - all mutually exclusive traits.

Thanks for the replies. I just bought the car a couple months ago and it has tires from 2012 and about 8K miles ago. You're right, I should probably just replace all 4. With that being said, is there a tire of choice to learn my mistakes on?

no one answer here, just opinions. i'm a big fan of the yoko ad08. fine on the street. excellent for AX, and pretty good on the track (comes on strong, but looses its composure around the 15 min mark). lasts quite a while and looks cool. i ran through a few sets of those before i went to the nt01 - not as good on the street or the wet and doesnt last as long, but much better on the track and my car lives mostly at the track at this point.

‘Tis the season for deeply discounted performer tires.

Watch tirerack and buy something on sale, at your level it doesn’t matter too much.

do not run an R compound at first. S04s should be fine.

RE-71s are great track and AX tires. They don't last a long time.
Hankook R-S4's are almost as sticky as Re-71s, but last a long time.
Yes, the RE-71's will be slightly faster, but you will be buying at least 2 sets for each set of R-S4's

I use the R-S4's for most of my practice sessions on the track and switch to the Re-71's for the last few sessions and timed runs

As Quad noted, don't go for R comps. Stock Boxsters are camber challenged, especially on the front. You will cord R comps fast unless you make some sus;pension changes and get much more than the .75 or so with a stock suspension
The R-S4's are good street tires as well

U get what u pay for. U need 4 new tires, since they are over 6 years old. Look into Michelin tires; P2S, PSS, or the newer PS4. Excellent grip. Great wet traction. Very good tread life. Yes, you can find <$ tires, but that will compromise the criteria listed. And they will compromise for a greater mileage range than a Michelin.

If you want to get crazy, look into the Cup 2s. The upside being, they are extremely DE worthy, and you can drive them in, and drive them out of the track, in rain.

You will be able to easily double stint the front tires to your rear tires. Rear tires can easily last 20,000 miles on a Boxster. Less so if you are doing DE and AutoX.

Thanks guys! I'm looking into the R-S4.

(For future reference) Are RE-71R considered R-comps? Will I need a 2qt sump for 71R?

Generally, no. The RE-71R tread wear (UTQG) rating is 200, so its generally considered an extreme high performance summer tire. This is a similar rating to the Nitto NT-05 and Hankook R-S4.

A typical r-comp will have a tread wear rating at or below 100 (for example, the tread wear rating for the r-comp Nitto NT-01 and the Toyo R888 are both 100. The Toyo RR used on Spec Boxster race cars is rated at 40).

These tread wear ratings are somewhat non-uniform so these are not hard and fast rules but they provide some info to help in comparisons between tires.

What Is An R-Comp Tire


Depends on how fast you are and what tracks you drive. Faster drivers pull more g's. Stickier tires pull more g's. Tracks with long fast sweeping corners pull more g's for longer periods of time.

bloody hell.

Just run a good high performance street tire like the ps4/pss, s04 or similar. First, figure out if you are even going to enjoy DE before spending money or grippier tires and 2nd, learning on street tires will generally allow you experience more slip angle at slower speeds and give you better feel for whats happening as the tires lose grip.

A rush to R compounds is a fools errand in my opinion.

<< What Jay said. :)

Hankook RS-4, Dunlop Direzza, Yoko AD-08, BFG Rival will all hold up well to the rigors of DE and AX. They are excellent tires to learn the sport because they offer good predictable grip and last reasonably long. The Hankooks are better in the heat and Dunlop are better as a rain tire.

Put fresh tires all around, make sure your brakes and brake fluid are recent vintage, and spend $100 on a performance alignment to get to most negative camber you can in front. Now you are ready to party!

Thanks! I'm about ready to change out the brake lines+fluid and was planning on the alignment right after I got my tires.